2015 eLearning Trends

An Enjoyable Learning Experience is Only a Mouse Click Away.

E-learning is the educational revolution that is changing both students and the learning environment. It is estimated that almost half of all students in the United States will take at least one online course. Corporations appreciate the value of e-learning because it can cut down educational expenses up to 50 percent. More importantly, one study found that e-learning uses 90 percent less energy than traditional courses. To be sure, e-learning is the educational portal of the future. Below are current e-learning trends that are making headlines and changing how students learn.

Games
What do online gaming and learning have in common? A lot more than you think actually. “Gamification” uses game thinking and mechanics within an educational context to improve learning and engage the learners. This is done through things like interactive problem solving, increasing the learners control and using motivation techniques used in games. It has been proven effective with increasing learner engagement with regards to physical exercise, timeliness and data quality. In addition to this, it has successfully been used with measuring recruitment and employee evaluation. Gamification increases the learners invested interest through taking advantage of natural human needs such as socializing, competition, self expression and learning. This new design technique will continue to improve learning through gaming and hopefully gaming through learning.

Customization
One of the biggest complains about traditional educational institutes is the one size fits all approach. Regardless of the students’ individual needs or curriculum complexity, the lessons and tests are standardized and unalterable. Online learning allows students to learn at their own pace and time. This greatly increases the overall learning results and satisfies students at the same time. In addition to this, being able to adjust the content presentation from between text, audio or video is another bonus. Personalizing the learning process helps increase student participation, meets their individual needs and results in overall high quality learning.

Data Management
E-learning offers excellent options for tracking and trending learning data. Statistics are the key to understanding the nuts and bolts of any operation. Thorough data analysis of e-learning will increase understanding of learning patterns and processes, provide feedback for improvement areas and encourage creative business solutions and innovation. For example, educational ROI (Return On Investment) has historically been difficult to calculate and analyze. E-learning data and statistics allow educational institutions to better understand and manage costs, improve efficiency and increase savings for learners.

There are exciting trends to follow with e-learning in the coming years. Gamification will increase the learning design and mechanics, customization will better meet student needs and data management will help educational institutions utilize data to continually improve and reduce costs for themselves and their students. An enjoyable learning experience is only a mouse click away.